Review: 'The Wood Queen' by Karen Mahoney

5:00 PM

Karen Mahoney burst onto the scene with The Iron Witch last year and blew readers away. Donna is a completely different heroine than most YA characters and has a unique and rich view on life. She has tattoos all over her body — tattoos made with iron and magic and alchemy. She also is expected to join the Dragon Order when she reaches the age of majority. The problem? In The Iron Witch, Donna stole the Order's Elixir of Life (think top secret and extremely, extremely rare and valuable) to barter with the Wood Queen, Aliette, for the lives of Navin, her human best friend, and Maker, the man who saved her life and gave her the tattoos.

The first book was action-packed, fast-paced and threw readers into a world of fae, wood creatures, Halflings and murder. At the end of The Iron Witch, readers and Donna didn't know what would happen. Our perspectives on the Order, which holds the real power, and friendship are changed. All we knew for sure was that Karen Mahoney would surely blow our minds in the sequel.

Blow our minds indeed! The Wood Queen picks up at the end of The Iron Witch. Donna is being forced to sit through a "hearing" in which the Order will decide her punishment for exposing them to a human (Navin) and for stealing the Elixir of Life to save Navin and Maker. Donna is becoming more and more jaded and suspicious of the Order — and her aunt. When her mother falls victim to an Elf Curse, her aunt and the Order refuse to help her. Donna has no choice but to again meet with Wood Queen Aliette, the woman who captured her friends and forced her to steal the Elixir — and the woman whom Donna betrayed. Aliette's demand is simple: Open the gate to Faerie so the wood elves can go home or Donna's mother will die.

Aliette swears the power has been inside Donna all along and that Donna will be able to save the wood fae. Donna begins to feel even more alone as boyfriend Xan (or is he?) has more and more secrets, Navin still hasn't recovered from his ordeal, her aunt is lying to her and Donna's tattoos are beginning to change.

Donna soon discovers what being the Iron Witch means. Her powers are her own, but everyone wants to use them, so she has to decide what constitutes good and evil in a world filled with shades of gray.

Mahoney is a fantastic author. I held my breath through The Iron Witch and continued to not breathe through all of The Wood Queen. Xan and Navin are both excellent love interests, but each holds strengths and weaknesses. Mahoney gives readers and Donna just enough rope (information) with which to hang themselves then lets us struggle to find the truth buried in the lies.

If you like Fae, magic, alchemy and the young adult genre, this series will hold your attention and not let go. The final book will be out next year … but no one knows if Donna, or readers, will be strong enough to finish what The Iron Witch started.

Jessie Potts, also known as Book Taster, adores books in all forms. She is a top 600 reviewer on Amazon and also does reviews for Bitten By Books and AllRomance.com.

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